About us
The Interdisciplinary Association for the Preservation of the Indigenous Traditions with Sacred Plants in the American Continent; NIERIKA AC, is an non-profit Civil Association that has as its objectives the research and biocultural preservation of the indigenous traditions, rites and ceremonies in which sacred plants are used, as well as elaborating proposals of regulation for the use of this plants in intercultural medicine contexts.
Anja Loizaga-Velder
Dr. Anja Loizaga-Velder received a master’s degree in psychology (Dipl.-Psych.) from Koblenz-Landau University, Germany and a doctorate in medical psychology (Dr.sc.hum.) from Heidelberg University, Germany. Anja is a psychotherapist specializing in humanist and transpersonal psychology, the study of consciousness, music therapy and ethnopsychotherapy. As part of her scientific work she wrote her master’s thesis and her doctoral thesis on the use of Ayahuasca for the treatment of addictions and has published several articles in international academic journals and book chapters on topics of traditional medicine and mental health. She has been invited to exhibit her work in multiple international conferences. She is Co-founder of Nierika A. C. and director of psychotherapy and research at the Institute of Intercultural Medicine Nierika A.C. In addition, she is a professor and researcher in the postgraduate course in Medical and Health Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Armando Loizaga
B.S. CCDCR University of Minnesota-Hazelden Foundation Certified Chemical Dependency Specialist. He has worked in the field of treatment and prevention of substance abuse in Mexico since 1991. Armando was director and coordinator of various clinical treatment programs for addictions and has also collaborated with traditional medicine associations in the study of cross-cultural treatments. He is currently president of the Institute of Intercultural Medicine of Nierika AC, focusing his work on the advancement of multidisciplinary clinical research protocols to assess the therapeutic potential of psychedelic plants used in ritual contexts, the preservation of indigenous psychedelic culture and drug policy reforms.
Héctor Vargas Pérez
The main interest of Dr. Héctor Vargas Pérez focuses on the development of projects aimed at implementing treatments based on the advances of neurosciences for individuals suffering from mental illnesses associated with aversive motivation, such as depression, anxiety, addiction and post stress -traumatic disorders. His main contributions have been to the basic sciences, during his Postdoctoral stay at the University of Toronto, Canada, with his studies in animal models of dependence on substances of abuse; and, as Technical Director of the Federal Penitentiary System, where he developed methods of therapeutic intervention for the benefit of individuals deprived of their liberty based on the decrease of the neuronal inflammatory response. He is a Biologist graduated from the Faculty of Sciences of the UNAM, he completed his master’s and doctoral studies at the Institute of Neurobiology of the same institution. He belongs to the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNI), level 1. Its current project focuses on the study of neuronal plasticity, pathologies and potential therapy.
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